The present invention pertains to a razor blade unit for a razor.
High-value conventional razor blade units are supported so that they can pivot with respect to the handle around a rotational or pivot axis which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the handle. The skin-contact plane of the razor blade unit can thus be laid more effectively against the skin to be shaved during the shaving process.
DE 297 24 245 U1 refers to, among other things, a razor blade unit in which the axis of rotation is located above the cutting edges of the blades and above the housing. DE 297 24 245 U1 also describes an axis of rotation located on the cutting edge of the second blade.
EP 0 638 015 B1 describes a razor in which the axis of rotation lies either on the side of the blade unit or on the side of the blade unit opposite the razor handle relative to the shaving surface, as a result of which the axis of rotation, with respect to its location during use, lies correspondingly on or below the surface to be shaved. The blade unit carrier is supported by a four-bar linkage, which lies in a plane parallel to the edges of the blades.
A razor with a coupling, which connects the handle to the blade unit, is known from WO 2003/097,310. The blade unit can be pivoted relative to the coupling around a first axis. The coupling is supported so that it can pivot relative to the handle around a second axis, which, like the first axis, is parallel to the cutting edges. The coupling and the blade unit are held under pretension in predetermined resting positions.
DE 698 08 479 T2 discloses a blade unit engagement structure, which makes it possible for the blade unit to pivot around a pivot axis parallel to a longitudinal axis of the blade unit. The handle is connected to the blade unit engagement structure by a pair of elastically deformable arms. The arms make it possible for the blade unit engagement structure to shift downward toward the handle, wherein the movement of the blade unit engagement structure is limited in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the downward displacement.
A razor, on the forward end of the handle of which a razor blade unit is supported by a fork-like holder, is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,904. Starting from a spring-loaded zero position, the blade unit can be pivoted around an axis of rotation parallel to the cutting edges. The axis of rotation defined by the fork-like holder extends under the cutting edge of the first blade.
Finally, a razor blade unit with a blade carrier which can be connected detachably to a handle by a plug connector is known from DE 103 27 739 B4, where the plug connector and the blade carrier are connected to each other by a connecting part which is designed in the form of a film hinge, and where the plug connector part and the blade carrier are also connected by an elastic plastic component, which almost exclusively determines the spring characteristic of the connection between the plug connector and the blade carrier. Although the use of the film hinge and the elastic plastic component already provide good spring and damping characteristics, there exists during the shaving process the problem that the blade carrier tilts up and lifts off the skin when too much pressure is exerted via the handle.